Chapter 100: EXO variety show

inside.……"Hey, a, look at that car, it's so cool."Across the street, about ten meters away, several trainees in neon outfits were gathered at a shop’s entrance buying fish cakes and stir-fried rice c...Ji Jingyuan only slept for less than four hours last night. He got up because he finished practicing the new choreography for MAMA's special stage yesterday evening. He came back home already past 2 am, and woke up at 6 am to go get his hair and makeup done for the first episode of their reality show.

The members were like zombies, grabbing some shut-eye in the van with no sound. A few people looked quite tired, sleeping in awkward positions, mouths open and drooling on the back of their seats.

And Chi Jingyuan also looked like he couldn't open his eyes at all, but he wasn't drooling. He was just lowering his head and leaning against the window to catch up on sleep.

Listing EXO's important activities recently, one member is occupied with filming "The Heirs" which takes up half his day. The other members are busy with various schedules, variety shows, commercial performances, and VCR shootings. They are constantly on the go.

Every day, after he finishes filming, he immediately takes a car back to the company to prepare for his new album. Then, he waits for the other members to finish their schedules before they practice together for the award ceremony's special stage.

Plus the new variety show that was added today, all the members' sleep time has been significantly reduced in recent days. They're basically getting only three to four hours of sleep each day, and it's estimated that this will continue until the end of the year.

And three or four hours is already a lot.

If there are any temporary schedules or commercials to film, it's quite natural to work through the night without stopping.

EXO wasn't doing much better the two months prior. Ever since "Growl" came out, their popularity skyrocketed and they've been riding that wave ever since.

This is also the norm for artists in the Peninsula fire, when they get something, they will also lose something.

Of course, with such high popularity and so many important schedules, they have something that other idol groups can only dream of.

Today's shoot is EXO's first group variety show since their debut, titled "" .

This program will be broadcast on MBC, one of the three major television stations, and will take the form of fans asking EXO questions, with the members personally answering them. The aim is to showcase the true lives of the members and hope that more people will pay attention to and like EXO.

This show seems to emphasize its authenticity, showcasing the private charms of EXO members. But since it's a variety show, there will be a script, more or less.

This time's script mainly outlines a recording process. The specific performance will depend on the members' improvisation on the spot.

Although many fans consider the behind-the-scenes footage of "Roar" to be XO's first official variety show, it was fan-made. This time, this is the officially certified first episode.

Chi Jingyuan has to wait for the filming of a TV drama, so he can only record for about an hour this time and has to leave first.

The first team, it's definitely not okay to completely hide their faces. It would damage the team spirit, so even if it's troublesome, he must show his face and record for a while before leaving.

Two nanny vans drove to the designated location, and members lined up and got out of the cars when the doors opened.

Now it's almost November, and the temperature has gradually become much cooler. Autumn and winter clothes have already been worn.

Chi Jingyuan was wearing a simple black tracksuit and sneakers at the moment. The hoodie of his jacket covered most of his chestnut hair, and he didn't bother to dress up specially since he would be changing into another costume later when he went to the set.

Walking into the shooting set, it's a roughly 50-60 square meter area on the second floor of a building. In the middle is a rectangular table with a row of microphones on it.

They had all already reviewed the script. The recording started as soon as they got out of the car. This first episode was basically an introduction to this season's variety show, some interactions, and answering some questions fans left online.

Next to the table, there was a standing display screen. The program crew responsible for filming kept posting questions and requirements on it. Then, EXO members either followed the instructions or answered the questions. The process was very simple.

"Choose a seat you like."

The first requirement was to choose a favorite spot to sit. Ji-young, without hesitation, chose the one at the very edge and pulled up a chair. Soon after, Se-hun joined him on his right, followed by Chan-yeol and Jong-dae.

After sitting down, the screen remained motionless for a long time. The members looked at each other awkwardly, an embarrassed silence filling the air.

Although there was a script, it was very obvious that many members were not quite comfortable during this first group gathering. Their smiles seemed strained and awkward.

"What are we going to do now"

Chi Jingyuan looked at the screen and said something as if he were speaking to the staff: "If you guys aren't ready with questions, could you bring out some food first I'm pretty hungry."

Just a moment, and there will be food.

A ding sound made Park Chan-yeol, who was closest to the display screen, jump in surprise. Everyone turned their heads and saw that the text inside had been updated.

A line of text appeared, then quickly changed to a new requirement: “Put on your microphones and introduce yourselves to test them.”

"Here, here..."

"Annyeonghaseyo, I'm Suho, the leader of EXO..."

"Hello, it's me......"

Members saw it and nodded in agreement, putting on their own headsets before introducing themselves to the camera.

"Annyeonghaseyo, I'm the maknae of EXO, Yuan..." Ji Kyungwon slumped his shoulders, wearing a hoodie hat, looking not very spirited.

This step looks stupid no matter how you look at it.

Next, the production team handed over a teleprompter card and designated Park Chan-wook as the temporary MC, while updating the text on the screen.

"First fan comment... EXO oppa, who is the most handsome without any flaws Which member do they think is the most good-looking"

Park Chan-wook read the note on the card aloud.

Including him, all the members were initially enthusiastically listening to the fans' questions. When the questions came out, everyone's faces turned gloomy at a visible speed. They directly turned their heads away from Park Chan-yeol who was reading the questions, some playing with their fingers, others wiping down the table, as if they had nothing to do with the question.

"Oh, why is this meaningless question again Can't our fans move past this topic"

They're all handsome, they're all handsome...

Kim Jong-dae and Kim Jun-myeon both responded with polite but perfunctory answers to each other.

This question they are often asked on variety shows, the most crucial point is that the answer is actually no suspense. Out of 12 people, there's one who is widely recognized as the best-looking, so every time this question comes up, it feels pretty pointless.

"You have to answer this question directly, each member says the name of the member you think is the most handsome."

At this point, text appeared on the screen, stopping their careless and negative attitude.

Everyone chose a setting like this, which suddenly made the XO members a little nervous. Because in this mode, it's not guaranteed that they would all choose Chi Jingyuan. Others could choose each other, and any member who wasn't mentioned at all would feel very embarrassed.

"The most handsome With or without makeup"

Wu Shi-hsuan looked at the camera and asked a question.

Qi Jingyuan, who was sitting beside him, turned his head after hearing this and glanced at him with a puzzled expression:

Is there a difference

(**) Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

Published exclusively on the Traditional Chinese Novel Networkfeasibility of Ji Kyeong-won's participation: "If it were 'Infinite Challenge,' Yuanxi seems like he could perfectly replace Gwang-hee who just joined recently.""Hmm..." Chi Jingyuan also began to act...